Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets in the 38th match of the season. It was expected to be a great game as both the teams had won their first two games in the UAE leg. A last-ball finish with twists and turns every 2nd over was pure entertainment for cricket fans on a Sunday evening. In this post-match analysis, we look at the performances of both the teams and the players who held their nerves at the crucial moments.
Struggle for KKR in the Middle Overs.
KKR has been playing the Brendon McCullum way and has been attacking from the get-go. Despite losing Gill to run out in the first over KKR managed 50 at the end of 5 overs. The batting team then lost momentum after a wicket maiden over by Thakur and could not get going against Jadeja. After 13 overs they were 93-4. A quick inning of 26 from 11 balls from Karthik helped KKR to reach 171. CSK was without the services of Dwane Bravo and his replacement in this match Sam Curran struggled to find any line and length and went for 56 in 4 overs. KKR could have managed more if not for the 8 over phase between overs 6 and 14 where they scored only 43 runs. The Indian unit of the CSK bowling lineup was economical but the foreign stars had a bad day.
Mystery of the KKR SPIN TWIN
Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine are a combination of mystery, variations, and control. In the last match, both of them finished their spells near the 12th over mark, but Morgan kept them for the last overs knowing that the CSK batsman can struggle and one-two good overs from them can increase the required run rate by a big margin. KKR got a brilliant over from Venkatesh Iyer, who conceded only 5 runs in the 16th over after Russel’s injury woes.
Narine did bowl a brilliant 20th over with just 4 to defend, but stats do tell he had a bad day as he gave away 37 runs in his first three overs. Chakaravarthy conceded only 8 runs in his last two overs and was the man behind CSK’s struggle to finish the match earlier.
Ravindra Jadeja to the rescue
Jadeja has been the most impactful player for CSK in this IPL. Be it with the bowl, bat, or in the field. With 24 needed of 10, Prasidh almost nailing his yorker and Narine to follow it was looking like a lost battle for CSK. Jadeja scored 20 of the next 4 balls and it was almost game over for KKR. The player has an average of 59.66 and a strike rate of 146.72 this season. Such numbers from a pure batsman are also outstanding.
In the first innings, Jadeja got the crucial wicket of Tripathi and kept the other batsman under control conceding only 21 runs in his 4 overs. The player was awarded man of the match for his all-around contribution.
CONCLUSION
With the win, CSK is back at the top of the table and most like to finish in the top 2 along with Delhi Capitals. After RCB beat MI in the following match, the no.4 spot is open for four teams and it will be interesting to see who gains momentum and takes that spot.
KKR is still at no.4 with 8 points in 10 games, but even the no.7 team is with 8 points in 10 games. The team will look to carry on the style of cricket they have been playing and would want to learn from their mistakes as they face Delhi Capitals on 28th September.
CSK may need to find a spot for Imran Tahir in the playing X1. The team management along with the fans are much waiting for their captain to return to batting form which further increases the capabilities of this batting order. The next challenge for this team is on 30t September when they face SRH who are struggling to win a single game. CSK will hope to win that contest and maintain the position at the top of the table.